MONTEREY — Visiting the beach when it’s cold and wet isn’t the most appealing idea. Doing it to pick up trash, well, that makes it an even tougher sell.

Yet on Saturday afternoon a little more than 60 hardy souls showed up in front of the Monterey Beach House for the first beach clean-up hosted by Discovery Whale Watch.

“I’m very proud of our local community and also for us as a new business, I’m proud that we’re able to spread the word enough to attract that many people to an event that’s out of our normal operations,” said Katlyn Taylor, manager at Discovery Whale Watch and J&M Sport Fishing.

Taylor said the company had been kicking around the idea of a beach clean-up and finally came up with a date. She said they have been wanting to make their operation more sustainable.

“We’re trying to be an example to other businesses around us but also just do our part to take care of the ocean,” Taylor said. “We get to make our money off watching whales. A healthy ecosystem is key to making sure the whales stay here and stay healthy.”

Kelly Plass is part of the Monterey Bay Officers’ Spouses Club and taking part in Saturday’s beach clean-up was just some of the outreach done by the organization. She said they’re trying to help the community that supports them in return.

Plass, 35, said she also felt like it was a really good turnout despite the chance of rain.

“But it was super nice, it was perfect,” Plass said of the weather.

Plass said participating in the beach clean-up is a way for her 9-year old son, Gabe, to become more aware of what people are using and how they throw stuff away. She also believes collecting garbage for even just a couple of hours can make all the difference.

“Just looking at the bags of stuff, I think it makes a huge difference,” she said. “I think every little piece of plastic and every little piece of trash adds up rather quickly.”

According to a story by USA Today, the non-profit environmental group Ocean Conservancy said during its International Coastal Cleanup day in September 2017, nearly 800,000 volunteers in more than 100 countries collected about 20.5 million pounds of trash.

The report found beaches and waterways were polluted with 2.4 million cigarette butts, which contain plastic filters, followed by 1.7 million food wrappers and 1.6 million plastic water bottles.

USA Today also reported a study by UC Santa Barbara’s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis found that 8 million metric tons of plastic trash end up in our oceans every year, which can potentially harm marine animals and ecosystems.

John Mayer, owner of Discovery Whale Watch, said he was hopeful a big crowd would show up to help with the clean-up but didn’t expect it to be anywhere near 60 people. He said people really wanted to help and make a difference.

“I think the bigger picture is that it makes people aware” he said. “When you come out here and put your hands on tangible objects that you find on the beach that could potentially end up inside of an animal… there’s a problem here.”

Mayer, 37, said the beach clean-up won’t be the only program or event the company wants to establish. He said since they’re getting something from the community he believes they should give back to it as well.

Taylor, 27, said Discovery Whale Watch had been implementing things such as recycling programs but pitched the idea of the beach clean-up in the fall. She said they picked a date in January because they didn’t want to compete with other beach clean-ups in the area.

“But, the winter time is also when a storm surge puts stuff up on the beach,” Taylor said. “So, we just threw it together, hoped for the best and I’m really impressed with the turnout.”

Taylor said she wasn’t expecting so many people to show up and was pleasantly surprised. But, she said it’s just one thing that Discovery is trying to do to help local shorelines.

Taylor said there’s a lot of doom and gloom about all the plastics in the ocean and believes another reason for the beach clean-up is to take action.

“It’s better to do something than just sit around and try to come up with a big plan,” Taylor said. “There are big plans we’d like to do eventually down the road but let’s just go take some action to get things started.”